diet + tank colour affects ray coloration?

[root]

hi guys,

just got a pair of new rays and was wondering what's the best base/tank colour to maintain their colours?

previous owner kept them in a blue based/wall tank, but i currently have a fine layer of gravel in an all black environment (except front glass).. just worried the black surrounding would slower 'darken' the rays? or it's ok since the base is rather light?

also, i've read before that feeding prawns/shrimps will make the spots more orangy, and also recalled reading some other food that would make it grow darker?

thanks in advance for all advice..

 

[root]

am so sorry i forgot the picture!!

 

[DB junkie]

I've seen my Marbles darken up so much its almost hard to believe its the same ray, going from a white sand tank to a barebottom black liner.

 

[rvrrays]

Those are beautiful.

Colin

 

[freshwaterstingrays]

5 stars

 

[BONSAI2]

very nice rays

 

[sodenoshirayuki]

The darker the environment is, the darker your ray will be. And vice versa. But this can change. When i kept my rays in the basement, it was lights off 95% of time and they were really dark. When i moved one tank upstairs in the living room, it was alot brighter and after a few weeks they turned brighter. And im not sure if it works with rays too, but, for arowanas, itll give a better colour to their scales if you feed prawns with shells on.

 

[ewurm]

I have my ray with Caribsea Torpedo Beach sand. It's basically an off-white that leans toward gray and the contrast is great. The ray doesn't seem to have lightened the background color at all.